University of Kent

Applied Optics Group

We’re one of the fastest growing research group at the University of Kent. The university was established and granted royal charter in 1965, and has since grew to a strong 19,000 student and 3,000 staff research institute, with two main campuses in Canterbury and Medway, Kent. The presence of the university has generated a £0.6 bn to the economy of South East England.

Today, as the leading UK’s European university, Kent has significant international impact through its specialised European teaching centres in Brussels, Athens, Paris and Rome. By having a well-establish teaching and learning network, its global partnership extends beyond Erasmus programme participation, to scientific collaboration, study exchanges and dual degree course with partner universities in USA, Malaysia, China, Russia, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

A little bit about us….

Dating back into 1982 when it was founded by Professor David Jackson, the group has achieved numerous breakthrough from fibre sensing to optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

Initially, the research activities have been primarily focused on the development of novel, optical fibre based sensing systems. The Group has since built up an international reputation based on its extensive publication record and has attracted considerable sums of industrial funding for its applied research, which complements the more fundamental work supported by the Research Council, Wellcome Trust, Paul Instrument Fund and the European Community.

Since 2005, leadership has been taken by Professor Adrian Podoleanu. While continuing the general involvement with Photonics tools, the core activity was oriented towards high resolution optical imaging solutions with emphasis on OCT.

The research on OCT embarks on the expertise gained in the AOG by the team lead by A. Podoleanu on generating the first en-face OCT images of the retina and cornea and of the first combined OCT instrument with scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO). Generous funding, as detailed below was obtained from research councils, ERC, EC, companies and hospitals.

 

Our breakthrough and invention

En-face OCT technology

The AOG has pioneered en-face OCT technology, has produced the first OCT en-face images from the retina, has researched and protected the technology of dual OCT-confocal imaging which allows generation of a confocal image and of an OCT image either simultaneously or quasi-simultaneously eye using en-face OCT, generated 3D images from skin, devised multiple-interferometer configurations and special modulators to collect simultaneously images from different depths in the tissue and introduced the concept of OCT imaging with adjustable depth resolution studies on the limitations and performances of OCT systems.

Master/slave OCT

Master/slave (MS) represents a revival of the en-face view, whereby the values of the first OCT/SLO are re-enacted using the modern principles of spectral (or Fourier) domain OCT.

Dual OCT-confocal imaging technology

Four advanced eye imaging instruments incorporating the dual imaging capability, confocal and OCT have been placed in leading clinics in the USA, Europe and Japan with support from the Ophthalmic Technologies Inc., Canada. Using these instruments, first en-face OCT images and OCT/confocal images of eyes with pathology have been reported.

The AOG group has also finalised research on the first nstruments combining en-face OCT with fluorescence imaging. The group has also paid attention to a novel solution to eliminate the mirror terms in channelled spectrum OCT, which is compatible with moving targets and can shift the sensitivity profile away from optical path difference equal to zero, reported topography of the. The group has also performed theoretical and with adaptive optics, optical source is essential for the OCT performance, work was aimed at development of specialised optical sources for OCT, either broadband or swept lasers.

 

Overview of Systems in Kent (Catherine Chin):